The competition ran from throughout the month of July, and in that time 26 coaches from the various schools donated blood.

The football coaching staff from Mount Douglas blew the competition away with nine coaches donating blood. Centennial Secondary and Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary each had three coaches donate, Carson Graham Secondary had one, New Westminster Secondary had five and Terry Fox Secondary had four coaches and one “team mom” donate.

As an incentive, the head coach from New Westminster Secondary, Farhan Lalji, contacted a representative from Baden Football to ask if the company would donate balls to the top three teams. They agreed to give one ball per coach to the winning teams, said Townsend. That’s how the Blood for Balls Challenge was born.

Once the scores had been tabulated, Townsend announced the top three teams. Mount Douglas Secondary came first, New Westminster Secondary came second and Terry Fox Secondary came third with the extra boost from team mom, Becky Savery.

Townsend is grateful to everyone who donated blood for the challenge and in turn save lives.

“We would love to make this a great annual event, all for a great deed,” he said. “We can grow the challenge and encourage all our high school football programs throughout B.C. to participate and donate blood for years to come.”

The Canadian Blood Services is always looking for blood donations, monetary donations and volunteers. For more information, visit their website.